ALERT!!!! Las Vegas, NM AND Royal Dutch Shell & Cannon Air Force Base

Thursday, June 21st, Royal Dutch Shell and Cannon Air Force base folks will speak during a statewide Association of Counties conference to our locally elected municipal commissioners and council people.

Come let them know that you do not agree that this quasi government organization has the right to engage our government in corporate indoctrination.

The meeting begins at 9:30 AM Thursday with Shell presenting. Come and let them know your position on poisoned water and air.

Thomas Linzey, senior legal counsel, CELDF

COMMUNITY RIGHTS with THOMAS LINZEY, CELDF in Las Vegas

April 2nd, 2012, the City of Las Vegas Council passed the "Las Vegas Community Water Rights and Local Self-Government Ordinance" protecting citizen rights by banning fracking. Come listen to Thomas Linzey talk about this council's progressive support of community rights for the citizens of Las Vegas, NM

LAS VEGAS Mayor & Democracy

DATE: Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012TIME: 6:00 PMWHERE: Las Vegas Council chambers, NMWHAT: Democracy is in trouble in Las Vegas, NM Come to City Hall and help put it back on track (See attached flyer)ACTION: If you cannot attend, please call Mayor Alfonso Ortiz and let him know your thoughts on his actions: 505-426-4439

In Solidarity--Stop Fracking

WORK SESSION WITH THOMAS LINZEY, CELDF--Mora County

The Commission will hold a "Work Session" this Monday. Thomas Linzey, senior legal counsel for CELDF will discuss the "Mora County Community Water Rights and Local Self-Government Ordinance" via Skype. Find out how a rights-based ordinance can ban corporations from polluting Mora County's water and stop drilling in the county.

Miguel Santistevan

WEALTH OF WATER: Short Term Gains VS. Long Term Opportunity presented by MIGUEL SANTISTEVAN

DATE: Monday, April 16th, 2012TIME: 4:00 PM children presentation, 5:00 PM adult presentation, 6:30 PM showing of GASLAND documentaryWHERE: Tapetes de Lana, Mora, Mora County, NMWHAT: Come listen to Miguel Santistevan, native of Taos NM, active acequia parciante and past Mayordomo, as well as board member for the Taos Valley Acequia Association.Miguel will talk about the differences between wealth and riches. What is real wealth? The infinite possibility to have riches in the future with our water.Free tamales and refreshments!

Drilling Mora County

LAS VEGAS COMMUNITY BILL OF RIGHTS ORDINANCE

Meeting for the Las Vegas City Council Vote:

DATE: Monday, April 2nd, 2012TIME: 4:00 PMWHERE: City of Las Vegas Council chambers1700 North Grand Avenue, Las Vegas, New Mexico

Directions: take Grand Avenue north, cross Mills Avenue and the next right (Rec Center across the street)

Mora Democracy School in Mora, NM

Democracy School will be presented online in Mora, NM this Saturday--Free event sponsored by the Mora Democracy School Committee--DATE: Saturday, March 24th, 2012TIME: 9:00 AMWHERE: Tapetes de Lana, Mora, NMWHAT: Join us for an online introduction to the Democracy School and the Community Rights movement. Learn how the rights protecting commerce and property, combined with the constitutional bestowal of the rights of personhood, have given corporations a controlling interest over our nation, our democracy, our people and the very land we walk on. We are occupied!CALL MDSC at 575 666 2529 to participateFREE catered lunch by Theresa's Tamales

Mora County Community Rights: FACEBOOK

IN SOLIDARITY--PLEASE ATTEND

DATE: Wednesday, March 21st, 2012TIME: 6:00 PMWHERE: City of Las Vegas Council chambers 1700 North Grand Avenue, Las Vegas, New MexicoDIRECTIONS: Take Grand Avenue north, cross Mills Avenue and the next right (Rec Center across the street)

This Wednesday, March 21st, 2012, the City of Las Vegas, NM,. will vote to adopt the first community rights based ordinance to be brought to a vote in the Southwest.

Come join in solidarity at the meeting to show the residents of Las Vegas and the city council your support for taking a stand in protection of Nature and people over corporate rights. Please bring others with you. Our chance to open up New Mexico to citizen rights is here, this week in Las Vegas!!!

Santa Fe Community Rights Ordinance

It is time for a change in order to addressenvironmental and public health impacts from Los Alamos National Laboratory. Santa Fe County needs a carefully written and agreed-upon community rights-based ordinance that asserts the powers it has to protect its water, air and land—our inalienable rights! There is no “no” in the regulatory system. It is only about how much harm and how much destruction will be regulated. A gathering of interested people will be held:

Date: Tuesday, February 21Time: 5:30 to 7:30 pmWhere: Santa Fe Main LibraryWhat: Develop community support for a Community Bill of Rights for Santa Fe County. Please join us!

DATE: Thursday, February 2nd, 2012TIME: 7:00 PMPLACE: UNM Albuquerque, Education Lecture Hall Room #103 (250 feet directly north of the Student Union Building on UNM Campus.It is on the first floor (west side)of the Education Bldg which is located just past (and down the steps) from the white/blue water fountain)WHAT: Thomas Linzey, senior legal counsel for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, CELDF, will speak on communities facing corporate challenges and will discuss how communities can exert their inalienable rights to protect their communities and develop their local sustainability.For more information, email drillingmoracounty@gmail.com or call 575 666 2529

DEMOCRACY SCHOOL COMES TO ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO!

February 3-4th, Thomas Linzey, senior legal counsel and Ben Price, projects director, the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) will present the Democracy School to community leaders and elected community officials.

Whether you are facing large water extractions, hard rock mining, oil and gas drilling, factory farms, or any other corporate development that threatens your community's water, air, land, health and safety, the Democracy School addresses these issues and offers solutions for local communities.

For more information contact 575 666 2529 or email drillingmoracounty@gmail.com

GASLAND, a documentary

CURRENT EVENT--MORA

•• The Mora Democracy School Committee proudly presents the showing of the new documentary "GasLand" by Josh Fox.

A stunning portrayal of the tragic and endemic impacts natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing have on communities and ecosystems from NY & PA west to the rocky Southwest states including, New Mexico.

Call for reservations for this event. Limited to 25 people.575 666 2529for more information: www.celdf.org

DEMOCRACY SCHOOL

Drilling Mora County hosted the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF--www.celdf.org) August 2010 Democracy School in Wagon Mound. Our rights to local self-governance, clean air, water, ecosystem, and health are inalienable birth rights, andthey are not only our rights, but our responsibility to protect these rights as well as to give a voice to the Rights of Nature--to protect with our voice, our vote, our actions. When we, the citizens, do not stand up for our rights, we, in essence, give them up to corporate, state and federal interests.

Today, as throughout history, it has been "the people" who have stood up, changed undemocratic and harmful existing laws. Stand up for your rights! And if not for yourself, for your children!

CURRENT--BASELINE water well and surface water testing

Baseline water well and surface water testing in Mora County possible soon. Protocols and testing in counties in Colorado and Wyoming by citizen groups and the EPA help direct the necessary steps to ensure that Mora County citizens know the quality of their water BEFORE any industrial development occurs in their county. Tune in for more development on this important development. 5/28/2010

CURRENT EVENTS

Upcoming premier in Colorado and New Mexico, documentary, "GasLand." Look for the date coming soon.

CURRENT EVENTS

The Mora County Commission meeting will be Tuesday, May 11th. 2010:What: Mora County Commission regular meetingDate: Tuesday, May 11th, 2010Where: Mora High school administration buildingTime: 10:00 a.m.

Action: The commission will give 10 minutes to the Concerned Citizens of Wagon Mound and Mora County (CCWMMC) and 10 minutes to the oil/gas industry to present on the issues of oil/gas development in Mora County during the meeting.

Please attend, call your neighbours, and SIGN IN on PUBLIC COMMENT to present your views on this important issue.

Royal Dutch Shell and their subsidiary representatives, SWEPI, stated during a public commission meeting July 2010, that they intend to begin their development in Mora County in 2010.

Come and let the commission and industry know how you feel about the use of hydraulic fracturing chemicals in your aquifers, air and land in Mora County.

CURRENT EVENTS

MORA COUNTY CANDIATE FORUM:Drilling Mora County invites all Mora County candidates to participate in a candidate forum.Date: Thursday, April 8th, 2010Where: Tapetes de Lana, Mora Time: 6:30 p.m.What: This forum will give each candidate the opportunity to present their platform to the citizens of Mora County. Questions will be moderated by TBA......

Please join us to hear the important views of our upcoming elected officials of Mora County

EDUCATIONAL FORUM

Dr. Eric Romero, anthropologist, Highlands University professor, will present about the "Historical Land Use Practices & Cultural Activity: the Impact of Unregulated Natural Resource Exploitation on Communities and Cultures, and Environmental Degradation."

CURRENT EVENTS

Educational Forum with Chris Velasquez (Land Out of Time, Range Wars and Split Estate), and Gilbert Armenta (Range Wars and Split Estate) will be speaking about living with natural gas drilling on their land for their lifetime.

Join Drilling Mora County:Date: February 11th, 2010Time: 6:30 p.m.Where: Tapetes de Lana, MoraWhat: Listen to the travesties, the heartaches, the determination and the strength of two families who bear the scars of natural gas drilling on their ancestral land./

CURRENT EVENTS

Dr. Feldman will present on the "Geology of the Las Vegas Basin:Gas Drilling and Potential Impacts to the Environment"

Dr. Feldman will talk about:•The Geology of Mora & San Miguel Counties- potential for gas drilling•Where are Mora & San Miguel County’s aquifers and what might happen to them?•What is Hydraulic Fracking and what are the potential impacts on regional water supplies

Join Drilling Mora County for an evening of important infomation:Date: Thursday, January 14th 2010Where: Tapetes de Lana, MoraTime: 6:30 p.m.

Mission Statement

To protect and preserve the water, land, health, and culture of North Eastern New Mexico by educating people about the adverse impacts of oil and gas exploration and production within our Region.

Profile

Writing as an expression of heart and soul, from one to another is what this blog is about. It is a sharing of my path, my joy, and the tribulations that have built my joy, my happiness to the peaks to which I climb today. Join me on this journey. If anything resonates, please share with others and walk with me on this journey. We can bring our ascending energies to a crescendo that will rock this world. It is all about joy, love and the happiness in which we live this lifetime. With metta
Kat

What Is Hydraulic Fracturing?

•http://www.propublica.org/special/hydraulic-fracturing-national

Hydraulic fracturing is a process used in nine out of 10 natural gas wells in the United States, where millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are pumped underground to break apart the rock and release the gas.

Scientists are worried that the chemicals used in fracturing may pose a threat either underground or when waste fluids are handled and sometimes spilled on the surface.

November 12th Educational Meeting, Tapetes de Lana

Please join Drilling Mora County, concerned citizens, at the November educational meeting to look at a non fossil fuel alternative that does not pollute our environment, nor damage our health. Willy Groffman, Ocate, will present on how to build the building that houses the still, and how to produce the fuel (ethanol) from indigenous plants for fueling your car and truck. Think Mora Green!

MEETING OCTOBER 22nd,Tapetes de Lana, Mora

Under one of the most powerful oil and gas administrations, gas drilling in the Valle Vidal was stopped. Join us as we listen to Brian Fields of Amigos Bravos tell us how this impending drilling was stopped and the Valle Vidal was saved.

Date: Thursday, October 22, 2009Where: Tapetes de LanaTime: 6:30 p.m.

Meeting on how to learn the oil and gas game as played by Royal Dutch Shell and KHL landmen

Come bring your family and neighbours and learn how this game is played where billions of dollars are at stake for the oil companies and pennies for the land owners whose mineral leases are being sought after.

Mora County Comprehensive Land Use Plan comment period

The Mora County Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP)is under revision. Written comments can be made to the county manager:John Garciamanagermoramanager@countyofmora.comVerbal and written comments can be presented the dayof the Mora County Commission meetingWhen: September 8thWhere: Mora high school administration buildingTime: 10:00 a.m.For an electronic copy for review and comment, email drillingmoracounty@gmail.comYour comments will shape the future of Mora County foryour children and their children.

White Peak Under Attack!

click on picture and see details

ACTION ALERT!!! White Peak wilderness up for oil and gas leasing

Speak out now or lose our wilderness to oil and gas drilling. Attend this important meeting with State Land Commissioner Pat Lyons. Tell him "No" to leasing our state land June 17, Tuesday, 11:00 AM

New Mexico State Land Trusts Advisory BoardNew Mexico State Land OfficeMorgan Hall310 Old Santa Fe TrailSanta Fe, New Mexico

Agua-Water

Petitions to Sign

Protect Mora County's Way-Of-Life

Tapetes de Lana mural, Mora

Message from a Hopi Elder, Oraibi, Arizona, Summer Solstice, 1999

“You have been telling the people that this is the eleventh hour, now you must go back and tell the people, this is the hour and there are things to be considered….Where are you living? What are you doing? What are your relationships? Are you in right relationship? Where is your water? Know your garden.

It is time to speak your truth, to create your communities, to be good to each other and do not look outside yourself for a leader…”

Then he clasped his hands together, and said, “This could actually be a good time.

There is a river flowing now, very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and suffer greatly. Know that the river has its destination.

The elders say we must let go of the shore-push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open and our heads above water. See who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves for the moment we do that our spiritual growth comes to a halt. The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves; banish the word ‘struggle’ from your attitude and vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred way and in celebration. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

Sunday, June 15, 2008

The grasshopper infestation of 2008 is chewing up the land at a rate equal to the Bush administration’s oil and gas-drilling frenzy. It is non-stop, it is visibly apparent, and the devastation, nearly complete. Is there a halt in sight?

40,000 acres of State Trust land are on the leasing block for gas drilling in Mora and Colfax Counties. KHL, Inc. landman, Knute Lee, has been discussing this leasing with State Land Commissioner Pat Lyons.

This coming Tuesday, June 17th, at 11:00 a.m., at an advisory board meeting, Drilling Mora County, a group of concerned citizens, will deliver petitions asking Commissioner Lyons not to lease these state trust lands. During the public comment period, all New Mexico citizens can offer their opinion on what they think Commissioner Pat Lyons' responsibility to the state trust land and to the people should be.

The State Land Commissioner's sole purpose is to generate revenue for the New Mexico public schools. There is no environmental responsibility or higher authority to whom the Commissioner must answer while in this office. This gives an eerie autonomy to a person who tugs at the heart-strings of people who wish not only to enjoy these wilderness areas, but to ensure a high quality education for their children, as most funding for New Mexico schools comes from mineral leases on state trust lands.

But when places like Chaco Canyon and Whites Peak are up for lease for oil and gas drilling, the very outcry that education and sacred grounds and the last vestiges of wilderness are the two last straws to chose from, there is definitely something seriously wrong with this picture. Akin to William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice, which do we choose? Who dies? The choice is between her young son and daughter. Our choice is our children’s education versus our state trust land. That was not a choice Sophie could live with. And neither is it a choice we can live with.

They tell us the situation is polarized, with only two options. But there must be other options. If we step outside the box and look at what is possible, we will find solutions. After all, necessity is the mother of invention. We now have reasons to develop new technologies—energy prices rising, coupled with the inescapable knowledge that our oil and gas reserves have peaked. These prices and the shortages might keep people at home more with their families, children, and neighbors. Maybe even evoke a return of the neighborhood community. This could be good.

If, however, we believe what we are told, that “we are in an energy crisis”, and “that we must drill, and we are un-American if we do not,” then we will continue to drill for the last drop available and continue to consume without reflection upon the devastation it is causing. But if we choose a different paradigm, and see that we have a grand opportunity in front of us to make a long needed change, we can have not only our children’s education and our wilderness and sacred sites, but oil and gas for future generations as well.

This will mean a choice. The current administration prefers a consumption paradigm; they would like us to continue to drive our gas-guzzling vehicles to put more profit into their coffers. Last year Exxon Mobil netted $1 million per 10 minutes according to a report last week on N.P.R. (6/4/08). That is $6 million every hour, $144 million every day. $52,560 million in net profit in 2007 from oil and gas revenues. Why, again, is the price of gas so high at the pump? But we can make choices, such as opting for conservation rather than consumption. We can choose to drive energy efficient vehicles. We can incorporate renewable energy into our homes and businesses. Solar is effective and dependable. Wind can supplement the energy grid, and compared to the devastation of oil and gas development, is a very acceptable renewable energy source.

How can we fund our kids’ educations in other ways? Perhaps a tax on vehicles that get fewer than 15 miles per gallon? We could reward those who do conserve and tax those who do not. Freedom is through choice. Democracy is about freedom. We can choose to see that we have an opportunity, or that we are under siege. It is our choice either way.

The Bush administration put a fast-track on coalbed methane and natural gas production this past decade. Water usage is enormous during these extractions—300,000 gallons of fresh drinking water to drill one gas well. On Ted Turner’s Ranch in Colfax County, coalbed methane extraction is causing a serious dewatering of the Raton Basin according to Gwen Lachelt of Oil and Gas Accountability Project (OGAP). In a state where water is a fragile, yet plentiful resource if used wisely, we cannot afford the dewatering inevitably caused from oil and gas development. And besides, the resultant “gas” is not what is sold at the gas stations to fuel our cars. It is natural gas, not “gasoline.” The price at the pumps for gasoline will not be touched when these lands are devastated by the industrial development from oil and gas.

Gasoline prices at the pumps 35 years ago were 25 cents a gallon. Opec’s oil embargo in 1973 created shortages, and prices skyrocketed to $1.25. Today at $4.00 a gallon, gasoline at the pumps is still less expensive than a gallon of bottled drinking water. Which can we live without? Neither will go down in price, of that we are assured. Are we willing to dewater our land for oil and gas production rather than see that this “crisis” is an opportunity for us to make some creative changes in how we live?

Rather than join in the mad frenzy the oil and gas corporations and our current federal government present to us—the paradigm that promotes consumption—think of your dreams and your children’s dreams, and create a better world.

Please attend the meeting to support Rio Arriba County and email your support of Rio Arriba County to emnrd.nmocd@state.nm.usThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Rio Arriba County is one of many New Mexico counties fallen victim to the relentless oil and gas industry. Four oil and gas drilling permits have been issued to drill in the historic Tierra Amarilla land grant area east of Chama, NM and another six permits are pending as part of an oil and gas development scheme of a Texas-based oil company, Approach Operating, LLC. Those ten permits are just the start of the development that encompasses over 90,000 acres of the pristine and sensitive Chama watershed. One of the four permits already issued is above 9,900' elevation, very near the absolute top of this beautiful, classic watershed and adjacent to the State designated Scenic Byway on highway 64 between Tierra Amarilla and Tres Piedras. Sadly, Approach has already bulldozed out a drilling site in the mouth of a once beautiful box canyon without the permission of the landowners just five miles south of Tierra Amarilla.

In answer to an outcry from landowners, acequia associations, concerned citizens, and the Rio Arriba County Commission, the State will hold an adjudicatory hearing on all ten drilling permits, (the four issued and the six pending) on Friday, June 20, 2008 at the Oil Conservation Division offices, 1220 S. St. Francis Drive in Santa Fe at 9 am in Porter Hall on the first floor. The offices are in the Wendell Chino Building.

All the abundant natural resources of this remaining sub-alpine landscape are threatened by the massive and unavoidable impacts of oil and gas drilling. Environmental degradation begins with the dirty work of building a drilling site, and continue to mount with related road building and pipeline creation, and carry on for another 30 years, the estimated life of the wells, putting all the innerconnected resources at risk. Heavy traffic, frequent trips, day and night operation, water pollution, air pollution, engine and equipment noise all contribute to a continuing disruption of the natural wonderland that now exists in our special places. Oil and gas drilling immediately endangers the eagles and elk, the deer and bear, the Rio Grande Cutthroat trout, and countless other native New Mexican wildlife that reside in these high elevation habitats. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish assert that native cutthroat trout have disappeared in all but seven percent (7%) of the streams above 5,500'. Adding insult to injury, all the streams in the area that Approach intends to drill are above 5,500'.

It is for the land, water, wildlife, and way-of-life that we ask you to join your fellow community members and speak up in the face of special interests that threaten all that makes New Mexico Enchanted. Stand with your fellow landowners and concerned citizens who would question the State as to why, with only cursory paperwork, it would allow the entire region to be immediately at risk, sacrificing our natural wonders for generations to come. As in the Galisteo Basin and in Mora County New Mexicans are starting to come together and resist by telling our politicians that the risks of oil and gas development are too devastating to compromise our water, our agricultural heritage, our wilderness and wildlife. By coming together as caring New Mexicans, we prove that we will not sit quietly as Mother Nature’s gifts are sacrificed to the rapacious oil and gas industry.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

THE NATION'S EFFORTS to enhance natural gas production and increase energy independence might bring with them new threats. There are growing complaints that gas drilling, particularly in the Rocky Mountain region, is contaminating water supplies with chemicals and endangering human health.

Some environmental and citizens groups claim that exemptions in federal law are responsible for allowing gas operations to contaminate water and air. To remedy this, they are working for changes in federal, state, and municipal regulations. They have succeeded to a degree on the state and local level. And Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform, is considering legislation that would end some of the gas industry's exemptions from federal environmental laws.

Gas exploration and drilling have increased greatly over the past two decades. According to the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration, between 1990 and 2005, the number of producing gas wells nationwide increased from roughly 270,000 to 425,000. The industry has experienced the greatest growth in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, and Wyoming.

Waxman and numerous activist groups are especially concerned about the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, a method often practiced to enhance production of gas, composed primarily of methane. The procedure begins with the drilling of a production well. Then, a mixture of water, chemical additives ranging from diesel fuel to guar gum, and sand is injected into the well at high pressure. The mixture, or "fracturing fluid," is put in with enough force to form new cracks in underlying rock. Finally, to prepare for actual gas production, engineers pump the groundwater and injected fracturing fluids out from the network of fractures until the pressure declines enough to allow gas to be released from the sandstone or coal.

Tecton Energy, LLC , a company that specializes in unconventional tight gas basins (unconventional recovery “UCR”), has purchased tens of thousands acres of mineral leases in the pristine Galisteo Basin and Santa Fe County. However, the viability of production is being questioned.

First and foremost, Atrisco Oil and Gas, LLC is not drilling for oil. We are seeking, through the services of Tecton Energy Corporation, to find clean-burning and clean-producing natural gas, and to develop it as an energy source.

Mr. Sanchez adds, "Bob Gallagher, President of the New Mexico Oil & Gas Association says his industry “stands on it’s 90 plus years of operations in New Mexico, and during that time we have drilled close to 100,000 wells, and not one drop of water, delivered to the consumer, for consumption, has ever been polluted or contaminated by oil and gas drilling activities. These emotional obstructionists will say anything in an attempt to stop our industry from producing oil and gas safely and in an environmentally sound way.”' Interesting. According to the Oil and Gas Accountability Project (OGAP) website , "The New Mexico Oil Conservation Division has detected and documented more than 700 hundred incidents of groundwater contamination from oil and gas facilities across the state. The data can be downloaded from the OCD web site (click here to download a pdf version or an Excel spreadsheet version).

Prior to 1990, only 39 orders were issued against oil and gas companies for contaminating groundwater. The earliest order was issued in 1954. Since 1990, 705 incidents have been recorded, for a total of 743 documented groundwater incidents related to the oil and gas industry in New Mexico.

Of the 743 groundwater contamination incidents, more than half have been caused by contamination from oil and gas industry pits.

According to a recent report, organic, sustainable agriculture that localizes food systems has the potential to mitigate nearly 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions and save one-sixth of global energy use. To read the full report, click here to visit the Institute of Science in Society's website."

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

The oil boom has created a land rush by oil and natural gas companies and speculators looking to lock up drilling rights quickly and cheaply. Landowners are reporting encounters with fast-talking industry representatives using scare tactics to strong-arm owners into signing lowball lease agreements. Some unsuspecting landowners have signed leases granting drilling rights for a fraction of the going rate. Landowners are urged not to rush into signing any agreement and to check with a lawyer familiar with oil and gas leases and regulations. Follow this link for the full story.

Crude oil prices are nearly $5 lower than last weeks record high of $135 per barrel, as investors and speculators are convinced that demand is weakening. Reports from several media outlets in the past week have carried predictions of significantly higher oil prices, including that of Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens who predicted $150 oil. But several economic measures suggest higher prices are cutting American consumers appetite for gasoline. The national average price for gasoline this week was up 7 cents to a record $3.944 per gallon.

National average prices for diesel also rose to a new record this week, adding a cent to average $4.778 nationally. High diesel prices are pushing the prices of consumer goods and food higher. Gasoline prices already average more than $4 per gallon in 11 states. The Energy Department said that demand for gasoline declined 1.1 percent in March, and they expect to report a decline over the Memorial Day weekend, although that data wont be available until next week. Despite this weeks decline in crude prices, analysts expect gasoline and diesel prices will continue to rise in the coming weeks. - Greg Henderson, editor

Sunday, June 1, 2008

It's a sign of our surreal times when the people trying to protect Santa Fe County from the horrors of drilling are blamed for record-high fuel costs. Never mind that the soaring prices are the fault of the international commodities market and multibillion-dollar energy corporations, industry will have you believe it's all because of those damn hippies.

As if there's even enough oil in the Galisteo Basin to make a dent in the national supply. The one well that Tecton Energy operated there, before temporarily abandoning, early this year, produced fewer than 50 total barrels of oil in nine months.

The company probably used more oil to fuel its semi-trucks, generators and drilling rig than it extracted from that dismal failure of a well.

What the company is really after — and is hoping you won't notice — is natural gas. No offense to those of you who know this, but I've heard and read enough bizarre comments to necessitate adding these lines: Gasoline is a nasty distillate refined from oil. There is very little oil left to extract in New Mexico. What I'm talking about is the "unconventional recovery" of natural gas and probably coal-bed methane. By "gas" I do not mean "gasoline."

As with oil, there's no guarantee that whatever gas is trapped deep beneath the surface can be released and recovered. The geologic formations in the Galisteo Basin and surrounding areas are so tight, they make any oil and gas operation risky and costly. It's a gamble, but played with human lives, not poker chips.

Gas drilling is tearing up the Rocky Mountains, from Montana to New Mexico. Live in a gasfield — and I know people who have — and you'll think you've gone to hell. Day and night, flare stacks burn methane, sulfur and other noxious gases — a ticking firebomb in our often tinder-dry land.

Toxic pits of antifreeze, carcinogens and even radioactive substances stagnate on private property, killing any animal that mistakes them for ponds.

Excerpts: Mora County, whose residents have been approached by at least one landman seeking to lease mineral rights in the area, passed an indefinite ban on oil and gas drilling May 20, which will remain in effect until the county finishes a rewrite of the document that governs development in the rural county northeast of Santa Fe. The Mora County Commission chairman said the moratorium will stay in effect until the Development Guidance System is "revised and fitted to the county's needs, whether it takes two months, three months, a year."

Drilling Mora County, an activist group similar to Drilling Santa Fe, has sprung up in Mora. "We are working to help educate people to understand what happens to an agricultural area when an industry like oil and gas comes in," said organizer Kathleen Dudley. "We want people to understand if they choose to have oil and gas come into the county, their way of life will be changed. (But) as long as they are actually choosing it in a democratic process, then it's legitimate."